Ancap Update:

The President of Argentina, Javier Milei, has signed a new Decree of Necessity and Urgency, the famous DNU, in which he dismisses 7,000 civil servants.

According to the government, the layoffs will increase in the coming days.

The mass layoffs of civil servants was something Milei promised in the campaign, but in the second round he said he wouldn't be so "radical" on the issue.

State workers' associations have called for a mobilization against the measure.

Link (Spanish Only)

By decree, the Government made official the termination of the contracts of 7 thousand public employees who joined this year.

The measure was published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette. In addition, an "exhaustive survey" of those state workers who have been working since before 2023 was ordered.

Within the framework of its State adjustment plan, the Government terminated the contracts of the public employees who entered this year.

With the signature of President Javier Milei this Tuesday morning, Decree 84/2023 confirming the measure was published in the Official Gazette. In addition, the Executive Branch will review the situation of State workers who have been in office since before 2023.

Indeed, Article 1° establishes that "the hiring of persons who have started to render services as from January 1, 2023, in the agencies included in paragraphs a) and c) of Article 8° of Law 24,156, will not be renewed".

In this way, it covers transitory employees "and any other type of hiring that ends on December 31, 2023″, of the entire national administration, as well as public entities, including, for example, the ANSeS, the PAMI and the AFIP.

According to what official sources informed to Infobae, the decision reaches about seven thousand employees from different areas of the Government. Only those who work in state-owned companies or corporations are excluded.

In addition to permanent employees, who will not be affected, hiring "derived from quotas regulated by law or other types of special protections" and personnel who "have been working prior to January 1, 2023 and have changed their modality" are also excluded.

However, the renewal of those "that the head of each jurisdiction assesses as indispensable for the operation" of the same will be allowed, although "in a restrictive manner and based on the grounds that their continuity is necessary for unpostponable reasons of operation".

The DNU signed by Milei and all his ministers states that the authorities of each area of the National State must carry out "an exhaustive survey" of the employees "whose date of entry to the administration is prior to January 1, 2023, in order to evaluate" their continuity.

In all cases, according to the text, if it is decided to renew the contract, the decision "must be justified, demonstrating the need" to keep the employee, whose employment relationship may not be extended "for a period of more than ninety (90) consecutive days".

In the recitals, the Executive Branch points out that the regulations in force state that this type of contract lasts 12 months, provided that it does not exceed the current budget period, so that "the contracts made by the National Government are about to expire".

In addition, it is remarked that this decision is taken within the framework of the Decree of Necessity and Urgency No. 8 of December 10, 2023, one of the first ones signed by Milei, which modified the Law of Ministries to have only nine portfolios "in order to rationalize resources, which makes it necessary to review all those contracts made".

On the other hand, Decree 77/2023 was also published today, extending the prohibition to hire new employees in the State established last year by Alberto Fernandez.

This is a decision taken by the previous Government in July 2022 by which "the Jurisdictions and Entities of the National Public Sector included in paragraphs a) and c) of Article 8 of Law No. 24,156 of Financial Administration and Control Systems of the National Public Sector" could not "make appointments or hire personnel of any nature".

Although the decision was in force until December of this year, exceptions had been established to fill vacant positions, appointments or hires for "duly substantiated reasons and accredited by the higher authority of the requesting jurisdiction or entity".

On this occasion, Milei's Government extended the validity of the aforementioned decree until March 31, 2024.

After last week's mega decree that seeks to deregulate the economy and the publication of this DNU that adjusts the National State, it is expected that this week the package of bills with which the Government intends to extend its plan will enter the Congress.

Among the initiatives to be discussed in the extraordinary sessions convened between December 26 and January 31, Milei's Government will seek the sanction of the freezing of the salaries of public employees and, according to reports, the possibility of reducing the salary of some of them in high hierarchy is even being analyzed.